Glendale To Santa Barbara With Fuzz..RIDE ALONG!

The summer of long distance riding continued on Friday by heading north on the coast. Last month we rode down the coast to the Mexican border (160 miles), but this time Mauricio and I decided to ride up towards Santa Barbara. After last weeks Angeles Crest ride (Glendale to Waterman : 98 miles with 10,000ft of elevation gain) my knee took a good beating again. The route to Santa Barbara is fairly flat so the knee would hold up.

Packed the essentials in my saddle bag, loaded my bottles with Amino Vital, zip-locked the necessary 6 scoops of Amino Vital powder, and clipped in my Sigma Rox 9.0. Riding out from Glendale through the San Fernando Valley was a breeze as we cruised along the Chandler Bike Path towards Topanga Canyon. After a short climb up the Santa Monica Mountains we bolted down the flank towards the big blue pool called the Pacific Ocean. The smell of salty air . This is where we met our nemesis for the remainder of the ride - WIND. No tailwind, not side wind, but full facial head wind at a constant 20 mph. The rolling hills of Malibu became like peaks as we both took turns in the front at a max rate of 12 mph. Once we made the turn towards the flat agricultural grounds of Oxnard the wind died down to a good 15 mph. By the way, prevailing westerlies should be called prevailing North In-Your-Face Westerlies... darn you Coriollis Effect.

Oxnard into Ventura was not as bad. The next batch of Amino Vital kicked in quick and got me going through miles 50-70 easy. Great to be able to ride at a good pace and make some ground. Sigma computer registered us at an average of 21 mph for this stretch. The views from Rincon and PCH is unbelievable. Stopped in at Rincon Cyclery in Carpenteria to load up on water and snack. Scooped up more Amino Vital into my bottles. Had a good chat with the owner about the wind and bikes. He was dumbfounded to see me with mountain bike shoes and mountain bike pedals, Xpedo's kick ass no matter what bike their on. Hey Roger, I know what your thinking, but I keep it real foo!

Our plans of sneaking in Casitas Pass, which would have been a good 25 miles detour, was scraped thanks to the headwind. So, we continued on towards the gazillion dollar homes of Montecito. It was great to fly by stopped cars in bumper to bumper traffic on the way in to Santa Barbara. That is the beauty of bike travelling. It takes a long time to get there, but efficient at the same time.

The area of Santa Barbara County on the coast has been compared by many to the French Riviera. It is lush with flowers and palm trees. Riding into the town along the beach had a really soothing and relaxing effect. Got to the Santa Barbara Train Station with 10 minutes to spare for the next train heading home. Washed up in the restroom, made my recovery drink with Amino Vital Amino Acid Recovery and enjoyed the calm train ride back home with my legs up and a million dollar view out the train window.

Trustee Sigma computer registered the ride at 125 miles in 7 hours 26 minutes.

Major thank you to Molly at Amino Vital for the best performance drink out there. My body could not have felt any better during and after the ride with Amino Vital.

Kenda Konstrictor tires ran with out any punctures or flats. The Dual Tread compound is great for long distance riding.

Sigma Rox 9.0 worked flawlessly and recorded huge amounts of data every turn of the wheel.

Voler shorts literally saved my behind. Did not have any discomfort or pains throughout the long journey.

Ryders HIJACK sunglasses are super comfortable on the bridge of the nose and on the ears.

Until the next trip ...

Fuzz